


Brotherly Bonding

by bettername2come



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Family, Gen, Secret Identity Fail, author shamelessly steals dialogue from the Vibe comic, because seriously Dante was right there, because someone should
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 10:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3724888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettername2come/pseuds/bettername2come
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cisco and Dante talk. Because apparently Dante does listen to what Cisco's saying even when he's screaming in pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brotherly Bonding

“Are we ever going to talk about it?” Dante asks on the way back from physical therapy. He and Cisco have been doing their part to heal old wounds in the Ramon family, but Mom and Dad will barely look at Cisco. Dante’s making good progress, which everyone’s happy about, but Cisco came home with a black eye and Dante came back needing hospital treatment. Needless to say, they’ve been giving Cisco the side eye for weeks. Their sons’ failure to explain exactly why they were kidnapped by supervillains in the first place isn’t helping matters.

Cisco avoids his gaze, eyes firmly on the road. “I was kind of hoping we could skip that part. I told you already, man, I’m sorry.” 

“That’s not what I mean.” Dante rolls his eyes. “I mean, are we gonna talk about the fact that you know The Flash and have been running around fighting crime for the last six months?” 

“I can’t talk about that, Dante. Those aren’t my secrets to tell.” 

“No, they’re Barry Allen’s. Whoever the hell he is.” 

Cisco slams on the brakes as they reach a red light. “You heard that?” 

“You were a foot away, dude. The gun damaged my hands, not my hearing.” 

Panic rises in Cisco’s chest. “No one can know you know about that, okay? Seriously.” 

Dante holds up his still-bandaged hands. “It’s dangerous. I got that part, too. So what are _you_ doing getting involved in this?” 

Cisco shrugs. “I didn’t go looking for it. It just kind of happened.” 

“How the hell does this kind of thing just happen?” 

“Well, first a particle accelerator explodes and the next thing you know you’re giving directions to a superpowered guy in a red suit.” There’s more to it than that, obviously, including the fact that he, Caitlin and Barry just happened to get pulled into helping Felicity before any metahumans appeared, but he doesn’t want to play the _it’s destiny_ card just yet. That’s more Barry’s spiel anyway. 

Dante shook his head. What the hell had his little brother gotten himself into? “You’re going to get stabbed. Or blown up.” 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dante.” 

“You got yourself kidnapped because you believed a girl in a bad blonde wig was a structural engineer! It doesn’t exactly instill confidence.” 

“I can take care of myself, Dante. I blasted the last guy who tried to stab me. He’s in a secret prison in the North China Sea. And so far I’ve survived two explosions and defused a bomb, and the worst I’ve gotten is a concussion.” 

Dante stares back at him, waiting for the punchline until he realizes Cisco’s not smiling. “You’re not kidding, are you?” 

“Trust me, the truth is way weirder than anything I could come up with.” 

And Dante doesn’t have a response for that. He just shakes his head as he remembers all the crazy news reports he’s seen in the last few months. Had Cisco been involved in all of it? What the hell was he doing at S.T.A.R. Labs? 

Cisco breaks the silence. “You said it yourself. I follow my passion no matter what. I want to help people. This is how I can do it.” 

Dante wants to ask if this is about the particle accelerator, guilt over the people who were hurt or killed in the explosion, but he doesn’t. He knows that’s part of it, but he also knows Cisco better than his brother thinks he does. He remembers their room being filled with comic books growing up, and accelerator or not, Cisco would have jumped at the chance to play hero. Actually, now that he thinks about it, it’s kind of surprising that Cisco hasn’t just made a costume for himself yet. 

“Just promise me you’re not going to do anything stupid.” 

Too late, Cisco thinks, but he nods anyway. “I promise.” 

Silence fills the car. 

“I know the Arrow, too.” 

“You do not.” 

Cisco nods. “I made his costume. Well, his new one. I don’t know where he got the old one. He doesn’t really strike me as a ‘sewing machine’ kind of guy.” 

“Wait, so who is he?” 

“Oh, no. I’ve reached my limit on giving away secret identities for, like, a lifetime.”

**Author's Note:**

> I read the Vibe comic. I like the Vibe comic. Dante's definitely a better brother in the Vibe comic. His insistence that Cisco's going to get stabbed or blown up come from there along with Cisco's "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dante."


End file.
